Having spent the last few weekends cleaning out my Grandparent’s house, I’ve come to the conclusion that my pack rat complex runs in the family. Heck, it gallops! Going through boxes of my grandmother’s junk, I realized I have to start cleaning out my stuff. Yesterday, I rolled up my sleeves and decided to go through my “scrapbox collection” which consisted of 4 huge boxes that sit in the corner of my bedroom taking up way too much space. These boxes are filled with newspaper clippings, pictures, magazines, and other such memorabilia that I collected throughout the 1980’s and early 90’s. I have attempted cleaning these boxes many times but yesterday I actually accomplished something– not much, mind you, but something. There are now only 3 boxes remaining.

List of some interesting items I retained:

Shoe box full of obituaries. Earliest obituary is Ricky Nelson. Latest was Joanne Van Fleet.

Manilla envelope filled with dreamy pinup pictures of Johnny Depp.

A 1929 Photoplay magazine I had discovered years ago at my Grandmother’s house and promptly forgot

1976 newspaper with the headline: ELVIS DEAD

A spiral bound notebook in which I handwrote the lyrics to Tip Toe Through the Tulips, Mellow Yellow, etc in big bubbly handwriting.

2 years worth of Nigel Bennett fan club newsletters.
List of some items I junked:
A clothing tag from a pair of Mikhail Baryshnikov exercise clothes

10 High School play programs from the early 1980s. Bye Bye Birdie, Pippin, Annie Get Your Gun, etc…

A traced rendering of the Monkees tastefully done by some unknown middle school friend

High school love notes received in American History class from a boy who is now gay

1986 concert schedule for Tommy Conwell and the Young Rumblers… or on the other side, a smiley face done in crayons

Happy 4th of July!!!

I just remembered my dream from last night. There was something wrong with my stomach and so I lifted my shirt and started to press on my navel. A dark substance seeped from my bellybutton. Once out, it was round and surprisingly heavy. It seemed like a tumor or a minature version of the Blob. I wrapped it in a tissue and placed it in my pocket.

Last night I watched a home video of my 2nd trip to Berlin back in 1995. This is when I went with Suzette, before I met H. Watching it, I realized why I stopped making home videos: They are so boring to watch! Then I put in a tape of 1st season Forever Knight. That too bored me and so I forwarded to the flashback sequences with LaCroix (Nigel Bennett). You see, I don’t have a VCR and since I am housesitting I am taking advantage of their VCR. It’s hard to believe I was once a VCR junkie! I taped everything and anything. But worst of all, I couldn’t make myself erase anything so I just kept buying more and more tapes. I have almost every episode of Kung Fu the Legend Continues, the Monkees, I have the movies Return to Mayberry, Ishtar, Mephisto, all the 1960’s Beach Movies, Doris Day films, etc… I guess it was right around the time I graduated from college I realized I had to stop living vicariously through movies and so I stopped my incessant taping. (I continued to tape Forever Knight episodes). In fact, because I so easily get sucked into TV shows, I have purposely avoided certain series in case my obsession might kick in. This is the reason I have never seen an episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Alias. Of course, one of those shows I purposely avoided, La Femme Nikita, I happened across it by chance and now I am fighting obsession. Lisa has a VCR and I have been hinting at how much I would like her to tape the weekday airing of it on Oxygen! Network. She wisely ignores my requests. Undeterred, I’ve considered purchasing the DVD box set but it just seems too expensive. Especially since the show was on for 5 seasons and each season is 70.00– that’s a lot of money to watch Peta Wilson shoot people and hope for a glance of Roy Dupois’s ass. How do you pronouce DuPuis? Is it Dew-Pwah? or Dew-Pew-es? Along the same line, I have always wondered how to pronouce: Trintignant as in Jean-Louis Trintignant? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

I am house sitting for family friends. It is strange but their computer refuses to show the images on donnaville. Graphics on other Web sites show up but none for donnaville. Let me know if the pictures don’t come up for you too.
Yesterday we were back at my grandparent’s house doing the final cleaning. My mom finally sold the 1933 DeSoto that was sitting for years and years in the garage behind the house!
Driving to my grandparent’s house I saw a billboard that had me in stitches. It is for a product called: Outhouse Springs Bottled Water. The sign had a picture of an old outhouse and emblazoned across it were the words: We’re #1 – Not #2!
EHarmony finally sent me a new match. He looks a bit like H– dark hair, pastey skin and jowly. We are at the 3rd level of communication– Open Ended Questions. He wants me to describe a simple pleasure and explain how it makes me feel, detail a regret in my life, and describe an interest that I would hope my partner could share with me. I feel like I am taking an essay test. On top of that, I hate having to reveal myself to some potential ass who most likely will disappear the moment he reads my [forced] answers. I am thinking that for the question on a regret, I shouldn’t mention giving online matchmaking another chance.

A Tribute to Ray Harryhausen. I really got a kick out of this animation. Check it out!

Went out drinking. Met a gay man that reminded me of Jack from Will & Grace. His name is Dwayne and we talked about the TV show What’s Happening. We both expressed dismay over Rerun being apparently straight. Then some man came over and felt my upper arm. He wouldn’t stop touching me. I finally went to the bathroom, hoping he would leave me alone. Standing in the bathroom, I realized my shirt was inside out and so I took it off. As I was about to turn it right side out, some woman walked in on me, standing there in my bra. I decided to pretend that nothing weird was happening and so I nonchalantly put my shirt on as this old lady stared at me. Luckily the pervert left the bar when I returned. Gosh, it sounds more like a dream than reality. Yup.

Just got back from my grandmother’s house. My mom and I spent yesterday and most of today cleaning it out. Last night, I went to the grocery store to buy a carton of milk for the morning. Right next to the dairy counter there was a bin with a sign that read: DVDs 4.95. I couldn’t imagine there would be any worthwhile DVDs being sold at discount in a little grocery store in upstate Pennsylvania but being the cheapskate that I am, I couldn’t help but take a peak. And it turns out, I was wrong. You see, sitting right on top of the pile was the DVD, NICK KNIGHT! This is the TV movie that acted as pilot to the greatest television show of all time, (next to Misfits of Science, Kung Fu the Legend Continues, Highlander, It Takes a Thief, and Run for Your Life, of course ) FOREVER KNIGHT! Now, this is a different cast– most notably, Rick Springfield portrays Nick Knight and Michael Nader portrays LaCroix. Rick “Hard to Hold” Springfield… my heart skips a beat just hearing his name! So I added another DVD to my collection. This means I am now the proud owner of 2 DVDs! Run Lola Run and Nick Knight. I will admit, I am beginning to wonder if I hang around enough grocery store DVD bins will I find the long forgotten, unsold pilot to Blood Ties?

I watched all of Pakeezah and most of Junglee. I planned on watching all of Junglee but I just got over-Bollywood-ed. The one overriding question I have is how in the world do those Indian women get their voices so high? Maybe in between takes they huff helium? Regardless, Pakeezah was gorgeous, an incredible film. Junglee, on the other hand, was more of a silly Elvis-inspired romp. Shammi Kapoor even resembled Elvis but only a little. A better comparison would be Max Baer Jr., (of Beverly Hillbillies fame) with whom he also shared a similar acting style.

TCM is showing Bollywood movies tonight! I am giddy with anticipation!

Pakeezah (1971) A free-spirited young woman refuses a prince’s proposal for love of a man she only met once.

Junglee (1961) Young lovers defy the caste system to fight for happiness.

Awaara (1951) A bitter young man vows revenge on the two men who destroyed his mother’s life.